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Griffon
Griffon was a robot that competed in Series 2 and 3 of Robot Wars. It did not enjoy great success in the main series, being eliminated at the Gauntlet stage in Series 2 and in the second round in Series 3 after being pushed into the pit by Cerberus in the space of ten seconds. However, it won the Internet Insurrection grudge match in Series 2 after turning Sergeant Bash over with its lifting arm. Griffon's team captain and driver, Oliver Steeples, previously entered Series 1 with the featherweight Cunning Plan, which reached the Grand Final. Despite this, Griffon was unseeded for Series 2 because it was originally a reserve robot and was only able to compete after Reckless Endangerment pulled out of the main competition. Oliver Steeples returned with Griffon for Series 4, but failed to qualify for the main competition. After this, Oliver retired from Robot Wars as his heavyweight robots took "too much time and money" to maintain, but competes to this day in the Antweight class. One of his antweights, Mini G, took design cues such as the four-bar lifter weapon from Griffon. Steeples still owns the internals of Griffon, as well as its lifting arm, although the robot itself has now been disassembled. Robot History Series 2 Griffon was originally a reserve robot for the Second Wars after failing to qualify, but was brought in at the last minute after Reckless Endangerment pulled out of the competition. Griffon began in the Gauntlet stage of the heat by driving forwards onto the arena spikes, stopping, turning around and heading for the route with Matilda. Shunt immediately came after Griffon, and Matilda also lifted the competitor with its tusks. The House Robots prevented Griffon from moving any further for the duration of the run. Cease was then called, and Griffon had only covered 3.4 metres, finishing sixth overall on the leaderboard, therefore being surprisingly eliminated from the competition. Griffon later returned in the Internet Insurrection battle, that took place at the end of the Second Wars, during the Grudge Match Special. In this battle, Griffon was placed up against previous Grand Finalists Bodyhammer, BattleBots legend Killerhurtz and Adam Clark's Corporal Punishment. Griffon started impressively, by driving into the PPZ, lifting up house robot Sergeant Bash and successfully toppling the Sergeant. Shunt then flipped Killerhurtz and Corporal Punishment became stuck underneath Sergeant Bash's spikes. Bodyhammer then charged at Griffon, but missed and became stuck under Dead Metal. Griffon was then lifted up by Matilda's tusks and blasted with her spark shooter just as time ran out. With Griffon being the only mobile robot at the end of the fight, it was declared the winner. Series 3 In the Third Wars, Griffon showed much more potential in the main competition, now that the trials were abolished from the heats. Griffon was placed up against fellow Series 2 Gauntlet drop-outs Daisy Chopper in the first round of the heat. In the battle, Daisy Chopper's blade hit Griffon to no effect, so Griffon flipped it, also to little effect. Griffon shoved Daisy Chopper around to rack up a small amount of points. Griffon pushed the giant robot into Sergeant Bash, but it escaped. Griffon levered Bash against the side wall but failed to flip the house robot over. Griffon prised Daisy Chopper's tyre away from the wheel, severely cutting its manoeuvrability. Griffon then pushed Daisy Chopper into Dead Metal, the latter retaliating by hitting Griffon with its blade. Daisy Chopper again escaped the house robots, so Dead Metal attacked Griffon instead. Dead Metal sliced into Griffon's lifting arm until time ran out. The judges decided that Griffon would go through, but the Daisy Chopper team argued against this and the judges had a rethink, but still put Griffon through (albeit on a 2 to 1 split decision this time). In the second round of the heat, Griffon was drawn up against Cerberus. However, Griffon barely moved off the mark, allowing Cerberus to easily push Griffon into the Pit of Oblivion in just ten seconds, eliminating Griffon from the competition. This battle would stand as the quickest battle for many years. This was Griffon's final appearance in Robot Wars as Oliver Steeples retired from heavyweight combat shortly after this. Results Wins/Losses *Wins: 2 *Losses: 2 Category:Competitors Category:UK Robot Wars Competitors Category:Heavyweight Robots Category:British Robots Category:Robots from Berkshire Category:Robots with Lifters Category:Robots from Schools or Universities Category:Robots with mythological names Category:Robots with equal amount of Losses and Wins Category:Robot Wars Series 2 Robots Category:Robot Wars Series 3 Robots Category:Substitute Robots